Pamela Roth
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Traci Stelten couldn’t help but feel overcome with emotion as she stood before her congregation at the Evangelical Missionary Church in Warner on Sunday to recall the past year.
It’s been almost two years since an arsonist set fire to the building, causing about $400,000 in damage, but for Stelten and many members of the church, it feels almost like it was only yesterday. Like many members of the congregation, the church is much more than just a building to Stelten; it was like her second home. Stelten grew up attending the church, got married in the church and had her own children baptized at the place of worship.
When it was taken away from her due to a fire, she felt like her world had come crashing down.
“I was heartbroken. When the fire happened, it was like a personal attack, like my house had been burned,” said Stelten, who took it upon herself to make a book about the fire and the rebuilding to capture the thoughts and feelings of those involved in the process. “There was a time after the fire that we didn’t think we would be able to rebuild because the damage was so bad and we didn’t have enough insurance money. The fact that it’s done is a miracle.”
For the church community, hearing the fire was deliberately set was shocking enough, but hearing it was set by one of its own former members brought even more sadness.
Last week in Lethbridge provincial court, Levi Bouldry, 20, who was scheduled to go to trial for breaking into the church and setting it on fire, pleaded guilty to arson. He will be sentenced Aug. 20 in Lethbridge.
The court heard how Bouldry broke into the church and stole computer equipment before setting fire to a storage room under a set of stairs and a second fire in the kitchen in the northeast corner of the church. The second fire didn’t take, but the first fire did.

Firefighters evacuated a nearby apartment building and managed to save the church, but the smoke damage was considerable, forcing the congregation to gut the entire building and start over.
When longtime chuch member Marj Cronkhite heard about the fire and learned who was charged with the crime, she felt her heart break into pieces.
Since the church was in need of several repairs, now she looks at the fire as a blessing and has managed to forgive Bouldry, who wrote a letter to the church and community apologizing for committing the crimes.
“The fire was devastating, but it’s come back so nice, so much better than it was before. Really, it has been a blessing and that’s the way I think God works,” said Cronkhite, whose grandfather was the church’s first pastor. “Levi will be the focus of our prayer and will continue to be. We just hope with all of this he will get the help he needs and that he will not continue on this path.”
Members of the 20-member congregation began rebuilding the church in January 2008 and moved back into the building 10 months later after holding services in the village’s library. Since the church is the only place of worship in the small village, the community rallied around its rebuilding with fundraisers and many donations to bring the facility back to life. Nearly 40 volunteers from seven nearby Hutterite colonies also dedicated their time to help resurrect the church.
On Sunday, a special rededication ceremony was held at the church as a reminder of what it means to the people of Warner. The church hosted its first service on Jan. 26, 1967 but the congregation dates back almost 60 years earlier when the first service was held in a store.
“I think the community as a whole realized the importance of this church,” said Cronkhite. “It’s certainly a part of the town and it’s been here longer than Warner has been incorporated.”